


One Day

by Jessiesarahjane



Series: All the Days [1]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:22:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24356503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessiesarahjane/pseuds/Jessiesarahjane
Summary: Bella and Sam randomly meet years later in a bar and learn some surprising things about one another. This is the first chapter of the first story in the series "All the Days".
Relationships: Bella Swan/Sam Uley
Series: All the Days [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758529
Comments: 6
Kudos: 56





	One Day

**Author's Note:**

> This began as a one shot that got wildly out of control. (Just like my Bella/Paul story "The Long Game") I should warn you that this exists in a world with no imprinting. Also, I love Leah, if you've read my other stories you know how much I love both Leah and Emily especially as friends with Bella, but it won't be exactly like that in this story. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

So tired. But then, he’d felt tired for years, so why should tonight be different? He sat down at the bar, asked for a menu, and ordered a beer. He wanted a steak, and fries, and, yes, even the damn side salad. He was going to sit and chew mindlessly and watch whatever was playing on the TV hanging over the bar. 

\-------------

She was exhausted. Today had really taken it out of her. Most days she loved her job, but she wanted to be able to help everyone, especially the kids. She was learning she could only do so much. She couldn’t fix all the social problems that led to some very real physical problems. She didn’t normally go to bars, but she’d promised her roommate, Kelsey, she’d meet her for a glass of wine and then stick around for a bit while Kelsey met her latest Tinder match for dinner. She kept a black sheath dress and heels at work always for “emergencies”, and today was glad she did. There’d been blood all over her scrubs more than once today (why did everyone seem to need stitches on the same day?), so she’d already had to change a few times. Slipping on the LBD at the end of the day made her feel a little more human. She took a seat at the bar and ordered a white wine spritzer and looked around for Kels.

\-------------

The steak was good, not perfect, but good. This was all he needed tonight. He was okay. He could do this. Just chew. Swallow. Put another bite in his mouth. Repeat.

\-------------

Her roommate still hadn’t arrived, but in scanning the bar her eyes moved briefly over a familiar figure. She smiled because he reminded her a little of...oh shit. He didn’t remind her of anyone. It was him! She felt her breathing become shallow and her heart rate speed up. Should she slip out? He hadn’t seen her. Or if he had she was being ignored. And who the hell was he to ignore her?? They’d never been friends, but they’d socialized kind of. Strategized, at least. She was momentarily 18 years old again. Feeling lost and small and stupid. Not good enough. She stopped and shook her head quickly to dismiss the spiraling thoughts. She was not going to do that. She’d come too far for that nonsense.

\--------------

He looked at the bartender as another beer appeared before him. “I didn’t order this,” he said, confused. 

“It’s from the woman with the long dark hair in the black dress over there,” the bartender said with a smile that said he was jonesing for an extra tip for delivering this news.

Without acknowledging the bartender with more than a gruff nod, his eyes quickly scanned the bar. And then landed. On her. What in the hell was  _ she  _ doing here?

And then she smiled at him. A slightly wary smile, but a smile nonetheless. He found himself holding her gaze as she grabbed her drink and walked over to meet him.

He started panicking. Why was he panicking? That was dumb. She was just that silly, broken girl who’d broken his friend’s heart all those years ago. Although, he had to admit she’d been forgiven. He hadn’t heard anything about her in years, but he knew there was no animosity from the others. Come to think of it, why hadn’t he heard anything about her? Not even from her Dad who he talked to often enough.

And suddenly she was next to him. 

“Sam Uley,” she said, still smiling, but with a little wariness.

“Bella Swan,” he breathed.

The noise of the bar swirled all around them as these two old acquaintances were mentally comparing the versions of one another they knew 8 years ago to the versions suddenly in front of them.

\---------------------

He was so handsome. All the wolves were, of course. And while he wasn’t the prettiest of the bunch, she thought it likely that he was the least aware of just how beautiful he really was which was attractive in and of itself.

\---------------------

She definitely hadn’t been beautiful the last time he’d seen her. And maybe beautiful wasn’t quite the right word even now. But she was lovely. He knew she’d seen and experienced some seriously messed up things, but her face was so open. Friendly. She’d lost that haunted and guarded expression. And filled out very nicely, he noticed. He startled a bit when she cleared her throat.

\----------------

“My eyes are up here, Uley,” she teased, and grinned wider as he blushed and looked like he wanted to die.

“Oh, go-, I’m so sorry, Bella! I didn’t mean to - I mean, you look so different! Good different, that is. I mean - not that before..”

“Sam,” she interrupted with a raised eyebrow and cocky grin that Sam would swear on a stack of Bibles she’d learned from Jacob Black.

“Yeah?” he asked, weakly.

“Shut up.”

“Ha!” he guffawed. He was such an ass. Not that he’d ever been smooth, but this was ridiculous.

“Wanna grab that beer and what’s left of dinner and head to a booth to catch up for a few?” she asked.

He nodded and stood up to follow her and wondered at the weird turn this night had taken. She wove through the tables and chairs and people like it was nothing. Didn’t she used to be a klutz? She was even wearing heels. And her legs looked great in them! He snapped his eyes back up, not wanting to get caught out again. What was wrong with him tonight?

“Perfect! I love this back booth. It’s the quietest one in the whole place.”

He cocked his head.

“This is my roommate’s preferred spot for meeting her dating app dates. I come and babysit the first time. I usually bring a book. Or a friend,” she chuckled. “There have been a LOT of first times. Oh! There’s Kelsey now. Let me just text her so she knows I’m here.”

She pulled a phone out of a purse he hadn’t even noticed she had and quickly texted, then looked over for a visual acknowledgment that her friend received it. Sam thought this was actually a pretty smart strategy for keeping each other safe.

“Does she do the same thing for you?” he asked as he put his dish and drink down and slid into the booth.

“Oh. Well. I’m sure she would. But I don’t really date,” she said it matter-of-factly, but pinked up a little. Ah, that famous Bella Swan blush. He’d forgotten about that.

He didn’t ask, though he wanted to know. Happily she continued, “I’m sure you recall I have pretty questionable taste in boyfriends.” 

And at that, he couldn’t help but laugh. He barely recognized the sound, it had been so long since he’d heard it. He looked at the woman sitting across from him and sobered at the memory of finding her lost in the woods all those years ago.

“So, Bella, how have you been?” 

She smiled at the intensity behind the seemingly casual question. Sam was always so serious. Forced to be a man and a leader when he should have still been able to be a stupid teenager. Suddenly she reached across the table and lightly touched his arm, but she withdrew when she felt him tense and flinch.

“Sam, I’m so sorry. For my part in all of it. I know they came before me. But I always wondered if they would’ve left sooner without me. If some of you could’ve been spared. I know it wasn’t all my fault, but I felt- feel- badly all the same. It’s why I left. I figured if there were any others coming through, after the ones you tidily dispatched, then maybe they’d just pass through. Not linger.”

“That’s why you left?” Sam asked. Some of them had blamed her for a bit. Paul, sometimes. Leah, mostly. But Leah blamed a lot of people for a lot of things. He should know.

“It’s a lot of why. I wanted to stay close to my Dad, but away, too. You know how they say if you can remember the smell of a memory it’s one of the strongest types you retain?”

He shook his head. He’d never heard that. But as a wolf he knew all about the power of scent.

“All my best and scariest memories were linked to that forest. The smell of it. The rich soil and damp and life of it all. It reminds me of...all of it. Even still. Charlie comes to visit at least once a month and that first hug from him with the smell of home on his clothes is enough to swamp me for just a moment.” 

Sam studied her- again remembered finding her in the woods. She was so tiny and broken. He’d snuffed all over her and she reeked of the vamps. Not the forest. But he could see how the two things were mixed up for her human senses.

“La Push is better. More sea smell there to mix in with the woods, and...nothing bad ever happened to me there.”

“Except when you jumped off a cliff,” Sam deadpanned. “And crashed a motorcycle.”

She blushed. “Those were self-inflicted stupidities. Never had my heart broken or mind screwed with there. How’s that?”

“Makes one of us,” Sam grumbled.

She instantly focused on him. 

“Are you talking about long ago or more recently?”

He said nothing. Just stared at the bottle in his hand before taking another drink.

“Sorry. None of my business,” she said. And he noticed that she did look sorry. 

Her phone rang and the look on her face changed. He didn’t recognize it. He and Bella weren’t ever really friends even back then, so he supposed he couldn’t be expected to recognize all her looks.

“I have to take this call, Sam. I’m on call tonight for work. Excuse me for a moment.” And with that she listened to the message from what he assumed was an answering service. Describing a medical question? Was she a doctor? Nurses weren’t usually on call were they?

He saw her look around the bar and finally head for the door where she stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was chilly out there tonight and she’d left her jacket in the booth. He’d finished anyway, so he tossed money on the table, grabbed her things and headed for the door.

\----------------------

“Hi, this is Bella Swan, the on-call nurse practitioner,” he heard her say as he stepped outside to join her. She looked perplexed by his presence for a moment before he indicated her jacket and held it up to help her put it on. She smiled and started to put her arms in the sleeves while listening.

“I see. And have you noticed any change since he took the Benadryl?”

A nurse practitioner. Was that like a sorta doctor? He hadn’t been to a doctor for years and couldn’t really remember how all that worked.

“You did exactly the right thing, Mrs. Jack. But if he spikes a fever or you notice any red streaks up his arm, call me back immediately. In the meantime, keep up with the benadryl and any anti-itch topical things you have. Oatmeal bath, calamine lotion, bug stick, Balm of Gilead, or burdock root- that sort of thing. Just something topical to help in the short term. You’re welcome, Mrs. Jack. Tell Jay I said to just wear the bug spray next time because girls like a guy who’s conscientious like that.” She winked at Sam who was giving her a bemused look. 

She ended the call and chuckled. “Sorry about that. 12 year old boy who has historically nasty reactions to mosquito bites. They swell up bigger than golf balls on the poor kid, but he’s too cool to wear bug spray.” she rolled her eyes. “Although, typically kids grow out of this reaction, and he’s unlikely to change behavior before then which means he’ll just figure I didn’t know what I was talking about until he has his own kids,” she chuckled.

“Conscientious?” he asked.

She laughed. “It was the first word that came to mind. Possibly because you were right there.”

“You think I’m conscientious?”

“I do.”

Suddenly all he could think of were all the stupid impulsive things he’d ever done. “I don’t think that’s accurate.”

She looked at him, “Did you or did you not give up a scholarship and stay home to wrangle a bunch of teenagers into a functional pack capable of killing monsters?”

He smirked wryly. “I did turn into a giant wolf for a few weeks without knowing how to change back. And a lot of the fighting stuff was genetics and instinct.”

“Ohhhhh! Instinct. Tell me, Sam, does the coming up with a patrolling schedule for everyone that also helps them finish school and have time to train also fall into the category of instinct?” she goaded.

He stayed quiet. Maybe she was right. It’s not like he was ever a trouble-maker. Maybe a little mischievous, but never bad. Maybe he was conscientious.

“Wolf got your tongue, Sam?” she teased.

He scowled at her., “So you say girls like this quality in a man. Because if that’s the case, I may have been doing it wrong.”

Now it was her turn to laugh, and Sam felt a warm feeling spread through him at the sound. 

“Do you want to go back inside?” he asked when he noticed her shiver.

She smiled, “Sure. One more drink would be nice. And by then my roommate will have decided if she still needs me or not.”

Sam opened the door and followed her in. The booth in the back still hadn’t been cleared, so they went back to it. 

“Do you want another of the same?” he asked, pointing at her wine glass.

“That would be nice. Thank you,” she said. He went up to the bar to get them each another drink and glanced back at her for a moment. She really was lovely. Different in every way than his ex. A pang and a thrill shot through him almost simultaneously with that thought. 

\--------------------

“So, what have you been up to for the last 8 years, Sam Uley?” she asked when he sat down again. “Besides your supernatural duties. I still hear about those.”

“You do?” he looked at her in shock. “Who? How?”

She laughed, “Jacob, of course! We didn’t stop being friends. I just stopped being there physically and he finally realized that he wasn’t in love with me, thank goodness. I facetime with Jake and Billy all the time. Quil and Embry if they’re there, too. Which they tend to be pretty often.” 

Sam just stared. “How the hell did I not know this?”

“Do you know everything about everyone in the pack?”

He scowled. “I thought I did.”

“The boys said that over the years you’ve all gotten better in controlling your thoughts. Better at compartmentalizing while you patrol together. There was no reason for them to think about phone conversations with me- or anything else about me, for that matter- while phased.”

He knew those boys. They’d all fantasized about Bella at some point or another. Her and most other pretty girls they knew. Although, Leah had been very quick to shoot down any Bella-related thoughts those first couple of years after she’d phased. Maybe they kept the relationship with Bella a secret not just for their own defense, but for hers as well. Protection from Leah’s wrath. He shuddered. He knew how that could be.

“Earth to Sam,” Bella waved from across the table.

“Sorry. Just musing.”

“Wanna share with the class?” she asked, eyebrow cocked.

He smiled. Then darkened a little. “You know Leah and I got married?”

She nodded. “I did hear about that. Not specifically, but the boys told me all about shenanigans at the reception.”

“Did you also hear that we got divorced?” he asked.

“Oh, Sam. I’m sorry. I hadn’t heard that. Was it recent?”

He sighed. He was glad to know that his pack mates hadn’t been gossiping about him. He didn’t know why it mattered, but it felt like maybe they had his back.

“We separated a while ago. Divorced was finalized 3 months ago.”

“How does that affect pack dynamics?” she asked.

He smiled. He liked that she thought of it tactically first before asking prickly relationship questions. Everyone else gave him sympathy, which he didn’t want, or congratulated him on a new start, which he also didn’t want to hear. He could recognize that things were better for both of them this way without being exactly happy about it. If he was being honest, he wasn’t devastated, either. Just kinda numb.

“She stopped phasing a couple of years ago. So it doesn’t really, I guess.”

Bella thought that might explain some of the hollowness about him right now. She’d heard murmurs over the years about how difficult Leah was within the pack. Jacob had once said she acted like Alpha because she was with Sam - which would have been ok, he supposed, if Leah and Sam had been on the same page. But it always ended up causing problems and confusion.

“I see,” she said, then decided to change the subject. “What are you doing for work these days?”

“I’m back in school, actually. I was able to do most classes online, but I have to come up here for this next semester for student teaching.”

“Sam, that’s wonderful! You’ll be such a great teacher! What subject will you be teaching?”

“High School English, actually. My grandparents were both teachers. I don’t remember a lot about them, but I inherited their books. Well, more like I was cleaning out the shed in back of my Mom’s house and found all their books in boxes.”

“Practically the same thing,” Bella winked at him. 

“So, how’d you get into medicine?” he asked. 

“I was sick of feeling useless,” she answered quickly. Then shook her head. “Look, it’s rough on the human ego to hang around a bunch of supernatural beings. Edward and Jake treated me like I needed to be wrapped up in bubble wrap all the time.”

“Well, you did kinda fall down a lot,” Sam smirked.

She laughed. “I know. They weren’t entirely wrong. And Jacob was better than Edward in that respect. I was regularly reminded of how breakable I was around the Cullens.”

“Because they regularly broke you,” he said flatly.

She opened her mouth to protest. Then seemed to think better of it. “Yes. They did. Never intentionally, but I wasn’t meant to be living in their world and so things just kept happening to the mostly useless human. Anyway, when I left, I took a year before starting school. And I remembered all the conversations I’d had with Carlisle Cullen about medicine and how many people he’d been able to help over the years. So I started looking into nursing programs. I did a little volunteering to get over my thing about blood to make sure I could handle it, then applied to college as a nursing major.”

“What blood thing?” he asked.

“Oh. I used to pass out at the smell of blood,” she said. “Go ahead get it all out of your system. I know it’s hilarious given my past.”

Sam was not one normally given to levity. But that shit was funny. 

“Laugh it up, fuzzball,” Bella quipped while taking a sip of her drink.

And he laughed harder. A Star Wars quote on top of it all!

He wiped his eyes, “Ok. I think I’m done. Sorry, but I needed that. So you became a nurse, but isn’t a nurse practitioner more?”

“Yeah. Extra school. But…” and here she hesitated.

“What?” he asked, a little unsure at her sudden change in demeanor.

“Well. I started working for the IHS,” she said carefully.

“A lot of people work for Indian Health Services right out of school for some debt forgiveness. Most don’t stick around, though,” he said, shrugging. “Federal budget changes every year and they always seem to be cutting back clinics or hours, but never cut back paying for white doctors loans.”

She nodded, “All true. And you’re right to be pissed about that. But...I was talking to Jake and Billy while I was in school and it got me thinking. If any kid came into the clinic who might...have a wolf gene, I know the symptoms. And as a nurse practitioner, I could become his primary care person. I wouldn’t have to pass him off to a doctor as long as everything was ‘routine’.”

Sam sat back. Holy shit. Why hadn’t they considered that before? His Dad had taken off so long ago. Up to this area, too. He really could have someone phase into the pack who wasn’t on the rez. “Has anyone?” he asked.

“You’d know about it if they had. I wouldn’t have kept that from you. But you should also know that I’ve been ‘doing research’ on a form of mono that seems to hit native youth harder than the rest of the population, so every IHS clinic and many of the urgent care centers throughout this part of the state have my contact info if they get a case that fits.” She smirked a little. “As you said, most clinics don’t end up with doctors there long enough to really question a long-term thing. And who’s going to pay attention to mono in a teenager? So they pass it along and figure it’s out of their hands. They did their due diligence as far as they’re concerned.”

Sam sat back in the booth, took a long pull on his beer, and looked at the woman across from him. “Bella Swan,” he chuckled under his breath. “We all underestimated you.”

She smiled. “I think at that time you weren’t wrong,” she said. “It took me a while to remember myself after the Cullens. Jake helped, to an extent. But mostly, leaving home and having to be on my own helped most. Some of your boys come visit me occasionally, you know. I was able to talk through some of these ideas with them. The bogus research angle was actually Embry’s. He’s smarter than he thinks he is.”

“I’ll be damned. This has turned out to be a very interesting evening,” he said and scrubbed his hands over his face.

“Sleepy?” she asked. He looked exhausted. Bella had thought that about him even when they were all much younger. Sam wore responsibility like a mantle- a heavy one. He seemed to wear grief like that, too.

“Honestly? I’ve been tired for so long, I don’t remember it any other way,” he replied. It was the most frank he’d been with anyone in a long time.

“Where are you staying tonight?” she asked and then blushed a little at herself for being so forward.

“I have a buddy who lets me crash on his couch when I need to,” he said. “Unless he and his girlfriend are having a fight, and then he needs the couch,” he smirked.

She looked at him thoughtfully. “Sam...at the risk of being too forward, why don’t you come sleep at my place. You can have my bed for the night. You’re too tall for a couch. It probably smells like some of your packmates, too, which might help you rest better. The boys were up 2 weeks ago for a charity pub crawl my roommate invited them to.”

She wondered if he’d accept. Bella could see that he really wanted to say no, but something was stopping him. She had the sudden urge to smooth the ever-present crinkle of his brow - just reach across the table and touch him. And that would be super-creepy, so she would definitely NOT do that. But she wondered at the impulse. Jacob, Quil, and Embry were so physical with her. It was weird to be in the presence of one of the pack and have him so far away. 

“No pressure, of course. But it would be a pleasure to have you as my guest. I’m going to go tell Kelsey I’m about ready to head home and introduce myself to her date. Then I’m pointing you out to him. If you could look menacing when I do so it puts the fear of God in him, that would be great. If I’m not here to watch her, I want the real possibility of death if he steps out of line with my friend burned in his mind.”

Sam smiled at her, “Yes, ma’am!” His eyes followed her as she went over to do exactly what she said. At the moment heads turned his direction, he did his meanest, nastiest face. The guy’s eyes went wide with fear, and Sam had to try not to break character as Bella winked at him.

“So, are you coming home with me tonight, Sam Uley?” Bella asked when she rejoined him.

She really did seem to want him to come. He didn’t know what to make of that, but he decided to try something new. “Yes, please. Thank you for the offer.”

“It really is my pleasure, Sam. You saved me once upon a time. Then twice upon a time. Then three times…. Huh. That seems to be a thing with you. The distressed damsels of Forks are lucky to have you.” 

“I didn’t save you three times,” he protested while holding the door open for her.

She held up a finger and started ticking them off, “First, when I was lost in the woods. Second, when Laurent was going to drain me in the clearing. Third, when Victoria tried to kill me.”

“I didn’t get Victoria. That was all Seth and Cullen,” Sam countered.

“That’s right. Vampires and Wolves working together to fight a common enemy under whose leadership?”

Sam didn’t say anything, so she answered. “Yours. Yes, you had help. But you were willing to help and be helped because you are a humble leader and the stupid human managed to get herself in yet another situation where sadistic vampires were out to get her.”

“That is a really bad habit you have,” he remarked dryly.

“I’ve been working on it,” she snarked back.


End file.
